Judge Napolitano To Sen. Ensign: Could Fox News Be Prosecuted For Wikileaks Talk?

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by Frances Martel | 1:11 pm, December 11th, 2010

» 66 comments

Wikileaks’ Congressional opponents are recharging their batteries, and while Julian Assange has bigger legal fish to fry in Europe, he could soon be facing the consequences of breaking U.S. law by outing foreign intelligence sources. One of the senators behind the legal push, John Ensign, debated vocal Wikileaks ally Judge Andrew Napolitano on Freedom Watch on Friday, and while he made clear who he was protecting, he had a hard time defining “journalists”– and why Assange doesn’t count.

The Republican Sen. Ensign, along with Senators Scott Brown (R) and Joe Lieberman (I), will introduce a bill in the Senate that would bar journalists from leaking the names of government informants whose lives may be jeopardized by their outing. This would any newswire publishing the information in as much trouble as Wikileaks, though Ensign argued that most news outlets had declined to put out as many names as Wikileaks had.

The main problem with Ensign’s argument, it seems, is his insistence that Assange and Wikileaks are not journalists. Asked directly whether “if Julian Assange is not a journalist, and if Wikileaks is not a publisher, how do you define journalist and how do you define publisher, and isn’t it dangerous to redefine these things after the fact?” Ensign repeatedly declined to define either title. While he did agree with Judge Napolitano that a more thorough investigation into which government officials were responsible for the leak and a severe rebuke was in order for them, the two diverged on whether the people receiving the leaks from the government should receive equal reprimand.

Ensign defines Assange as “by his words, an anarchist”– seemingly a mutually exclusive title from “journalist,” which he ultimately never defines, other than to say “he [Assange] is certainly not acting like a journalist.” This back-and-forth continues for some time until Napolitano, in one final attempt to figure out what Ensign considers journalism, and why Wikileaks isn’t it, asks whether, under the proposed law, Fox News would “have a target on our heads” for discussing the content of the leaks. Here Ensign is consistent, answering “no, because you did not reveal the names of human intelligence resources.”

The full discussion via Fox Business below:

Fox Business, Freedom Watch, Joe Lieberman, John Ensign, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Scott Brown

JoeRyMI

Love the Judge.
Linda

Julian Assange is a journalist and no news station or newspaper should be prosecuted for letting the truth out. We need to have whistle blowers to keep out countries and business straight.
zee

WikiLeaks cables are now available live at http://www.dazzlepod.com/cable/
The minimal table listing allows you to easily browse through the cables or search for specific cable by keyword.
All cables posted are sync live direct from WikiLeaks primary server and are made available as soon as they are posted by WikiLeaks team.
Albert

Thanks zee, I will have to check it out.
Thelonious Funk

Good. When they rewrite the Bill of Rights, will they create a whole new document, or just take a Sharpie to the original?
Albert

Good point Thelonious!
Greg

U.S. Congress vs Age of Information….

Hmmm… tough one. Perhaps the acceleration of data collection and global digital connectivity will submit to the will of Ensign and crew. More likely he is chartering a canoe at the foot of Niagara’s falls in the hopes of discovering and source for it’s closure.
Linda

I am most curious on what will be leaked next. Banks info, BP info, should be interesting
George C

LOL
hanniballa

Hey Judge, could you explain that whole 911, inside job, controlled demolition thing again?
Albert

George, put a shirt on!
The Real Royal King

I’m not sure what Ensign knows about intelligence. I’d be more prone to listen to him if the topic were adulterous relationships. But, FOX “News” and FOX “Bidness” seems to have some trouble getting good guests.
ImNotBlue

For all the WikiLeaks fans, I think you should publish you real names, phone numbers, home address, and any other relevant information to you and your person.

Afterall, in this new “information age,” why should we have ANY secrets at all? Let everybody know everything! If the people run the government, shouldn’t we know everything about those people?

Come on, give us your info…
Atticus Draco

ImNotBlue said:
For all the WikiLeaks fans, I think you should publish you real names, phone numbers, home address, and any other relevant information to you and your person.

Afterall, in this new “information age,” why should we have ANY secrets at all? Let everybody know everything! If the people run the government, shouldn’t we know everything about those people?

Come on, give us your info…

LMAO!
Greg

ImNotBlue said:
For all the WikiLeaks fans, I think you should publish you real names, phone numbers, home address, and any other relevant information to you and your person.

Afterall, in this new “information age,” why should we have ANY secrets at all? Let everybody know everything! If the people run the government, shouldn’t we know everything about those people?

Come on, give us your info…

To argue that global trends hold more power than national legislatures demonstrates that the markets power to create trumps governments ability to mitigate after the fact. Hardly a radical point and not the same as an argument for complete transparency.
Albert

ImNotBlue said:
For all the WikiLeaks fans, I think you should publish you real names, phone numbers, home address, and any other relevant information to you and your person.

Afterall, in this new “information age,” why should we have ANY secrets at all? Let everybody know everything! If the people run the government, shouldn’t we know everything about those people?

Come on, give us your info…

You first……
ImNotBlue

Alfred, I have not made the claim that everything be 100% transparent. I believe that to run an effective government, some things need to happen behind closed doors… and it is our responsibility to pick those who will look out for our best interests behind those closed doors.

But others (like you) apparently believe that everything must be totally transparent. So, lets start small… start with you, and show the government you mean business. Let us know your secrets… or why it is that you’re “non-transparency” is okay.
skyfet

This is what America is coming to. Shutting people. It is a shame. ahh
Atticus Draco

Albert said:
ImNotBlue said:
For all the WikiLeaks fans, I think you should publish you real names, phone numbers, home address, and any other relevant information to you and your person.

Afterall, in this new “information age,” why should we have ANY secrets at all? Let everybody know everything! If the people run the government, shouldn’t we know everything about those people?

Come on, give us your info…

You first……

Imagine reading about RRK, Albert and BFD pathetic
Grade Transcripts
Credit Card transactions
Tax Forms
Merger bank transactions and history,, etc etc
LMAO!
WORK HISTORY,, as IF!
Albert

ImNotBlue said:
Alfred, I have not made the claim that everything be 100% transparent. I believe that to run an effective government, some things need to happen behind closed doors… and it is our responsibility to pick those who will look out for our best interests behind those closed doors.

But others (like you) apparently believe that everything must be totally transparent. So, lets start small… start with you, and show the government you mean business. Let us know your secrets… or why it is that you’re “non-transparency” is okay.

Lets start even smaller, lets start with you.
Albert

Atticus Draco said:
Imagine reading about RRK, Albert and BFD pathetic
Grade Transcripts
Credit Card transactions
Tax Forms
Merger bank transactions and history,, etc etc
LMAO!
WORK HISTORY,, as IF!

Wow, your really out of it Atticus, LAMO is the only word you know and the funny thing is, your the LAMO!! lol
Albert

hey …. Got to go shopping, don’t hold your breath on any replies lol
Atticus Draco

Albert said:
Lets start even smaller, lets start with you.

the proposed criteria was set “WikiLeaks Fans”
ImNotBlue

@ Afred

I dont belive you’ve read what I wrote. Please try again.
Atticus Draco

Albert said:
hey …. Got to go shopping, don’t hold your breath on any replies lol

i thot welfare checks were at the end of the month?
Linda

Atticus Draco said:
the proposed criteria was set “WikiLeaks Fans”

That was your suggestion Atticus, I believe that if we lose our press ability to protect whistle blowers identity we will lose our ability to print the truth. That being said, I will not disclose my identity.

Will you?
Linda

Atticus Draco said:
i thot welfare checks were at the end of the month?

How do you know welfare checks are at the end of the month? Do you get one?
ImNotBlue

@ Linda 2:24

There is a difference between “whistleblowers” and what Mr Assange did/is doing.

Assange released information to attack and cause chaos. He was not fighting against “wrong doers,” or corruption. Just releasing information he had illegally obtained to damage others.

There is a difference to be sure.
Just4thefax

Fact: Security begins behind the secrecy of the task being left secret. Those whom have agenda to inject their personal baggage are as bad as judges who don’t interpret the constitution but who twist their ideology into it. This is a crime of treason and it must be followed up by action that makes it clear that those whom interject their beliefs into something just because they feel it just doesn’t match their political beliefs should be held accountable by and up to death by firing squad. Loony liberal left have always been weak on keeping are secrets secret and to that end will always be seen as the threat within and should never be in the inner works of the acts of securing are freedoms.
Just4thefax

Linda said:
That was your suggestion Atticus, I believe that if we lose our press ability to protect whistle blowers identity we will lose our ability to print the truth. That being said, I will not disclose my identity. Will you?

Fact: This one is an example of someone who will never have a need to know!
Greg

Security begins behind the integrity of elected officials given the task of governance.
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0406nj1.htm

Those whom have an agenda of global full spectrum dominance are just as bad as commentarians who don’t interpret events but who twist their ideology into it.
“loony liberal left have always been weak on keeping are secrets secret”

This is a consequence of information technologies emergence as the prime factor of global development and makes it clear that those whom interject their beliefs should understand the concept of cause and effect before electing people for extermination.
ImNotBlue

@ Greg

You realize that you’re not making any sense, right?
Greg

ImNotBlue said:
@ Greg

You realize that you’re not making any sense, right?

I understand that sense evades you.
Atticus Draco

Linda said:
That was your suggestion Atticus, I believe that if we lose our press ability to protect whistle blowers identity we will lose our ability to print the truth. That being said, I will not disclose my identity.

Will you?

I am concerned about the press,, BUT NOT in the same way you are,,
I DONT THINK THEY ARE STRINGENT ENOUGH!
THEY’RE FRICKIN’ LAZY!

THE ONLY WAY THEY GET NEWS IS IF IT IS HANDED TO ‘EM!!!!

AS FAR AS I KNOW,,
most of the stuff that;s been discovered via WikiLeaks,,
coulda been discovered by a due diligent press corp!!!!

To me,, this WikiLeaks thing also demonstrates how shoddy of a PRESS WE DO HAVE!!
APPARENTLY,, THEY DROPED THE BALL TOO!!!
Paul Westlake

Anonymous = PUSSY.

I’m Paul Westlake and I approved this message.
Atticus Draco

Atticus Draco said:
Linda said:
That was your suggestion Atticus, I believe that if we lose our press ability to protect whistle blowers identity we will lose our ability to print the truth. That being said, I will not disclose my identity.

Will you?

I am concerned about the press,, BUT NOT in the same way you are,,
I DONT THINK THEY ARE STRINGENT ENOUGH!
THEY’RE FRICKIN’ LAZY!

THE ONLY WAY THEY GET NEWS IS IF IT IS HANDED TO ‘EM!!!!

AS FAR AS I KNOW,,
most of the stuff that;s been discovered via WikiLeaks,,
coulda been discovered by a due diligent press corp!!!!

To me,, this WikiLeaks thing also demonstrates how shoddy of a PRESS WE DO HAVE!!
APPARENTLY,, THEY DROPED THE BALL TOO!!!

DOES ANYBODY HERE THINK THE PRESS IS LOOKING OUT FOR OUR BEST INTERESTS?
…
I SAY FRACK NO!
Atticus Draco

Atticus Draco said:
DOES ANYBODY HERE THINK THE PRESS IS LOOKING OUT FOR OUR BEST INTERESTS?
…
I SAY FRACK NO!

THERE’S A REASON WHY THERE IS A WIKILEAKS,,,
‘COZ WE HAVE A CHITTY PRESS!!!
http://twitter.com/pewestlake Paul Westlake

Typical shit-ass webmastering at Mediaite totally ruined my line! Why the fuck would Mediaite log me in under my FB profile when I specifically logged in separately? Oh, right, because their webmaster sucks at this.

The right-wingers who spew bile and hate are less frustrating than incompetent tech management! Good grief.
http://twitter.com/pewestlake Paul Westlake

Atticus Draco said:
DOES ANYBODY HERE THINK THE PRESS IS LOOKING OUT FOR OUR BEST INTERESTS?

Depends on who you’re talking about. Corporate-owned media cares only about the bottom line, whether it helps anyone or not. Government-financed media has similar conflicts interest. Subscriber-financed media is closer to fulfilling their public trust. It’s not left/right bias that makes the biggest difference, it’s financing and conflicts of interest.
ImNotBlue

Greg @ 3:09

Greg, I get it… really, I do. I’ve met about a thousand of “you” on sites like this. You think you’re very bright, so you write in a way meant to convey that. However, you wind up neglecting punctuation and proper sentence structure, because you’re attempting to sound smarter than you are. Now, go back to what you wanted to say, try it again in English, throw in a few commas, and write something that makes sense.

Stop trying to sound smarter than you are. You’re failing.

Paul @ 3:26

The fact that Mediaite is still incompatible with Firefox speaks volumes.
Fox News: Better that we sell Hate than Crack

Senator Ensign should stick to talking about family values and his personal relationship with God rather than feigning outrage over Wikileaks.

My only regret is that WiliLeaks doesn’t have all of the internal memos ever sent out by Fox News executives to its producers and reporters telling them how to slant important news stories with a conservative bias. Exposing the daily, intentional manipulation of news stories by Fox News would a lot for furthering transparency in this country.
Just4thefax

Paul Westlake said:
Typical shit-ass webmastering at Mediaite totally ruined my line! Why the fuck would Mediaite log me in under my FB profile when I specifically logged in separately? Oh, right, because their webmaster sucks at this. The right-wingers who spew bile and hate are less frustrating than incompetent tech management! Good grief.

Fact:Wizard of Oz: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
ImNotBlue

@ Crack 4:47

Crack demonstrates the false and dangerous logic many of the Wikileaks supporters have. Their reasoning is based on politics and ego, not some over-arching notion of “free speech” or free information.

Crack, do you want “internal memos” from the other networks? Did you support the Climate-gate emails? What did you think about the Journolist leak?

Hurting the target is their goal… “free speech” is just a (false) excuse for the attack.
Dave Richards

Fox News: Better that we sell Hate than Crack said:
Senator Ensign should stick to talking about family values and his personal relationship with God rather than feigning outrage over Wikileaks. My only regret is that WiliLeaks doesn’t have all of the internal memos ever sent out by Fox News executives to its producers and reporters telling them how to slant important news stories with a conservative bias. Exposing the daily, intentional manipulation of news stories by Fox News would a lot for furthering transparency in this country.

I guess we should ask the same from the Washington Post, CNN, the New York Times and others about their meetings and memos that tell us all about their bias.

Damn, you’re stupid.
Greg

ImNotBlue said:
Greg @ 3:09

Greg, I get it… really, I do. I’ve met about a thousand of “you” on sites like this. You think you’re very bright, so you write in a way meant to convey that. However, you wind up neglecting punctuation and proper sentence structure, because you’re attempting to sound smarter than you are. Now, go back to what you wanted to say, try it again in English, throw in a few commas, and write something that makes sense.

Stop trying to sound smarter than you are. You’re failing.

I naturally disagree with your analysis. I do not see the comments section as a place constrained by the rules of syntax, a minor offense to the language when compared with the logical abominations that reside here. The time to plan response is a cost I care not to carry and so the words are streamed. I am attempting nothing but to enjoy an occasional back and forth. As long as we are providing each other with cool critique, avoid the creation of straw men. Imaginary victories are just that.
SarahP

ImNotBlue said:
@ Crack 4:47

Crack demonstrates the false and dangerous logic many of the Wikileaks supporters have. Their reasoning is based on politics and ego, not some over-arching notion of “free speech” or free information.

Crack, do you want “internal memos” from the other networks? Did you support the Climate-gate emails? What did you think about the Journolist leak?

Hurting the target is their goal… “free speech” is just a (false) excuse for the attack.

How are things in the alternate universe you live in? Specifically interested in the weather.
ImNotBlue

@ Greg 6:37

Talk to me when you’re actually an adult… not a little kid trying to speak “big boy.” You’re not fooling anyone.

@ SarahP 6:44

Does it make you feel bad to know this is the best you can do? Is this what you hope to accomplish?
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Greg

ImNotBlue said:
@ Greg 6:37

Talk to me when you’re actually an adult… not a little kid trying to speak “big boy.” You’re not fooling anyone.

You take offense with unnatural ease and attack on the wrong fronts. Good Luck.
Fox News: Better that we sell Hate than Crack

Greg said:

ImNotBlue has been hanging out on media blogs for to long to NOT know that he is a committed Fox News apologist. The mere fact he hangs out at Johnny Dollar’s Place pretty much says all you need to know.
Just4thefax

Fact: Did you actually want and pick an avatar with a dick in its mouth? You go girl!
ImNotBlue

@ Crack 7:15

I guess it really upsets you when someone (you don’t even know), occasionally visits a website you don’t like, for one reason or another.

Oh well. And before you ask, I’m here today while I work, using my telephone. I hope that’s okay with you.

(PS- If you’d like to send me a list of websites you approve of, so I could try to live and trhink the way you demand, I sure would love to have it.)
Fox News: Better that we sell Hate than Crack

ImNotBlue said:
Oh well. And before you ask, I’m here today while I work, using my telephone. I hope that’s okay with you.

Never crossed my mind that you didn’t work. I give you credit for staying with the same avatar and name across multiple blogs and not engaging in the trollish practice of having multiple sock puppets like so many do.
ImNotBlue

@ Crack 7:52

I thought you’d want to know, since you’ve asked a number of times.

Yes, I am the same across the web. I write enough for one person… I don’t have time to be multiples.
Albert

Atticus Draco said:
DOES ANYBODY HERE THINK THE PRESS IS LOOKING OUT FOR OUR BEST INTERESTS?
…
I SAY FRACK NO!

That truly depends on the morals and integrity or the reporter or journalist. Some do…. some don’t .
http://www.facebook.com/people/Monte-Thrash/1469275492 Monte Thrash

Journalism is a MUCH broader term than news reporter. However, “Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility.” That integrity does not allow for journalists to disregard the safety of others that can be jeopardized by the information they possess. Negligence is a category of crime as well.
Greg

The very concept of journalism is in flux. The web is king and no paper or station can ignore information disseminated outside of their domain. If hackers, leakers, and bloggers exist they redefine the boundaries of information by their nature. The NYT and FOX could have ignored the development from their separate corners but that does not inhibit the transition of information from private to public. Once the genie is outside of the box you can chase it with the hopes of eventual stuffing but I’m not betting on your success.
Albert

Just4thefax said:
Fact:Wizard of Oz: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Fact: Pay not attention to the man (or what ever) behind the mask.
david r

Ensign pursued his good friend’s wife like a lathered-up hound, then paid off the friend with federal money. All that “praying to the Lord” for guidance. I don’t care what he thinks or has to say.
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robbie

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ImNotBlue

david r said:
Ensign pursued his good friend’s wife like a lathered-up hound, then paid off the friend with federal money. All that “praying to the Lord” for guidance. I don’t care what he thinks or has to say.

I assume you think the same of Bill Clinton, right? So when Obama praises him, you just turn off the set… right?
Nachi

Ensign. Modern GOP Murcuh’s idea of a “patriot” & a “hero.” Uber brilliant!
david r

ImNotBlue said:
david r

Right on both counts.
ImNotBlue

david r said:
Right on both counts.

In that case, fair enough!